Jesus, Our Host - Maundy Thursday Meditation

 John 13:1-17, 31-35   

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.  The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him.  And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”  Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 

Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 

Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.”  For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 

You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am.  So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 

Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.  If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 

Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.  If God has been glorified in him,

God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 

Little children, I am with you only a little longer.

You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you,

‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’  I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

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When the other three gospels describe the Last Supper, the focus is on Jesus breaking the bread and sharing the cup, and what this really means for the disciples and for us. And of course this is how we received the sacrament of the Eucharist, which is here at the table prepared for us this evening, and which we do in remembrance of Christ.

But John’s gospel describes a different element of the Last Supper.  

His focus is on Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet. Now I am guessing that most of you are glad to be remembering Christ through the meal rather than through the act of foot washing.  Some congregations do share in foot washing as part of their Maundy Thursday worship. And yes, it can feel awkward. I will confess – I have actually skipped a Maundy Thursday worship service once upon a time because there was foot washing offered. And I just wasn’t feelin’ it. So I have some sympathy for Peter as he resists letting Jesus kneel down next to him with a basin and a towel to wash his feet.

But whether or not we actually do footwashing during this Holy Week, there’s a deeper message here that Jesus wanted his disciples to understand, just as he wants us to understand today. 

In the same way that the bread and wine was about so much more than nourishment, this washing of the feet is also about so much more than cleanliness.  The meaning behind the foot washing can be found in Jesus’ actions, in Peter’s resistance, and in Jesus’ explanations.

The footwashing was clearly an act of service. In fact, that’s why Peter protested it so strongly. Why on earth was Jesus, whom he had come to know as Messiah, kneeling next to each of them and serving them in such a lowly and humble way?

Peter knows that Jesus is greater and that he is insignificant relative to Jesus. But Jesus is acting like it’s the other way around. There is an inequality being represented here, and from Peter’s perspective it’s completely backwards. Often times, the act of serving one another is based on a hierarchy. Slaves serve their master because that’s their place, because they are unequal in status, because they have no choice.  The rich give to the poor, often out of charity or even love; but there is still an inequality expressed in this – the haves and the have nots, the superiority of one compared to the dependence or need or weakness of the other.  Peter’s brain could not wrap itself around Jesus behaving like the lesser party in this hierarchy. It did not compute.

But the way Jesus explained it was all about treating each other as equals, as friends. To love one another as he has loved them. To show brotherly love, sisterly love, Agape love, which has nothing to do with hierarchy, or whether it’s deserved, or what result it will bring.

Jesus washes the feet of everyone there that night, even those whom he knows will betray him – both Judas AND Peter. And he teaches us to do the same, In the same spirit of love for one another.

But there’s something more to this foot washing than a simple, humble act of service. We know this because Jesus says to Peter, unless you let me do this, you have no share with me. Or, to reverse the statement, in order to have a share with me, you need to allow me to wash your feet.

In the ancient Mediterranean world, the reason for foot washing at the time of a meal would be to show hospitality. It was a way for the host to welcome the guests. To turn it down would be the same as to reject the invitation, to turn away from the meal. 

John tells us that Jesus knows his hour has arrived. Jesus tells the disciples that he will only be with them a little longer. And he offers them, through the washing of their feet, an opportunity to have a share with him going forward; a share in his destiny; a share of eternity. This act of hospitality is an intimate, personal invitation into full relationship with Christ, into the eternal household of God. This is why he tells Peter that even though he can’t understand it now, he will understand it later.

What Jesus offered to Peter and the disciples that night is what he still offers us today – the choice, the option, the opportunity to open our hearts to him, to let him take hold of us, to let him abide in us as we abide in him.

Christ wants to be as close as the bread we eat, and the cup we drink. Christ wants to take hold of us, to wash us clean. Christ wants to invite us into God’s house, as the beloved community. This is why God came incarnate into the world in the person of Jesus, so that we could connect with God in a personal way, in a way that allowed us to personally experience God’s steadfast love for us.

But it’s our choice to make. To truly follow Christ is to let Christ fully connect with us; which frees us to love God with our whole heart and soul and mind and strength. Then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to fully connect with one another – as friends, loved ones, neighbors, and enemies - as those who know Jesus - and those who resist – even as those who will betray him.

Jesus invites us all to the table. Come, receive his invitation!